Publix Opinion (Apr 4, 1930)

|e \ atte oo PUBLIX OPINION, WEEK OF APRIL 41x, 1930 10 TRAINING CLASS VISITS EDISON CHANGES CURB WINDOW CARD CATCHY WINDOW AND LOBBY Window tie-up and attractive lobby display used by Manager Sidney S. Solomon to exploit coming attractions at the Paramount Theatre, Youngstown, Ohio. The store window was located in a busy A CARD! A replica of the window cards prepared by the staff of the Paramount Theatre, Youngstown, INSTITUTE Best minds of the electrical industry contributed to the training of future Publix managers last week, when the Training School spent four days at the Edison Lighting Institute, maintained by the General Electric Company at Harrison, N. J. Ward Harrison, head of the National Lamp Works at Nela Park, in Cleveland, and W. C. Brown, lighting engineer of the Nela Park works, came east to address the class on various phases of lighting. Their lectures were supplemented by valuable data presented by A. L. Powell, head of the institute, and his associates, A. Rodgers and A. D. Bell. Subjects covered during the week included illumination terms, lighting efficiency, color in light -ing, electrical display, stage and theatre lighting, lamp data, and color psychology. Particularly interesting and informative to the class were A. L, Powell’s lectures on stage lighting and his demonstrations of simple stage effects, as well as his talk on the psychology of color, previously reported in Publix Opinion, (Vol. III, No. 11). The value of the course to the managerial students was enhanced by the completeness with which the Lighting Institute is equipped. Practical demonstrations accompanied each, lecture, driving home the points covered. Colored Ice Cakes Make Novel Display On “Frozen Justice,’ Manager James C. Cartledge of the Strand, Knoxville, engineered a tie-up with the local ice company and worked out a novel lobby display: made up of cakes of ice. For a still more unusual touch, several of the cakes were colored pink and seyveral green, attracting more than ordinary attention. FIRST-QUARTER BUSINESS ANALYSIS FORECAST !! Analyze the business of your theatre dur|} > ing the First Quarter of the last four # — years! Note the weeks that indicate natural fee nals the distribution reyp lease sheets, to plot proper programs that will get business!l Set up the right kind of ticket-selling campaigns thru advertising, exploitation, and publicity. and distributed by them. See story in adjoining column. HIT PICTURE GETS MAGAZINE PLUG Cashing in on an advance tip of a 4-star rating given ‘Street Of Chance” in the issue of Liberty, being circulated the day preceding its opening at the Minnesota theater, the northwest division merchandisers sold the Minneapolis distributor of the magazine, the idea of enclosing an insert in 35,000 Liberty copies. The copy read, ‘‘Turn to Page 28, and read ‘the 4-star (HExtraordinary Rating) given by Frederick James Smith to “Street Of Chance”’ starting Saturday at the Minnesota Theatre.’’ Incidentally, each of the 500 boys distributing Liberty into the residential districts carried 9 x 138 two-color placards on their sacks, directly plugging the feature at the theatre. EVILS An efficient and inexpensive method of effecting window card tie-ups has been devised by Manager S. S. Solomon of the Paramount Theatre, Youngstown. Solomon, like all managers, was confronted with a three fold probleém—nhow to obtain intensive dis tribution of show cards, how to avoid the pass evil, and how to control the distribution of cards to get the maximum results with minimum expenditure? Realizing first of all, that to get special treatment from merchants his cards would have to be different, Solomon had special ones made up for each merchant. The card, pictured in the adjoining column, is 22” by 28”, with an 8” by 10” still and a catch line for the merchant put in by the staff poster artist. Each card thus reeceives individual treatment, and each merchant has a reason for displaying it. The service of every employee of the theatre is obtained in placing these posters. For each tie-up effected, the employee receives twenty-five cents. Passes are not given to the store-keeper and the poster is made up only if the merchant has agreed to keep it on display until he receives one for the next attraction. Furthermore, to check on the value of the distribution, each employee makes an exact report on the location of the window, type of passers-by, surrounding stores, other displays, ete. The total cost for each location, Solomon has found, is fiftyeight cents, “DYNAMITE” THROWAWAY Manager William H. Collier’s throwaways on ‘Dynamite,’ to [play at the Strand, Birmingham, all carried copy urging patrons not to disclose the ending of the picture. ment resulted. corner of the town. All mail for M. S. Hill should Much word-of-mouth com-|be addressed to Box 970, Greens-|is no longer one of the Publix boro, N. C. 1930 — NOVEMBER ~ 1930 is a matter of common knowledge that a man’s true ability may, be best judged by how he acts under a strain. The coming December Profit Drive will serve as an illuminating commentary on the individual ability of our man power.”—saM Katz, President; PUBLIX THEATRES CORPORATION. (Whether full-week or split week policy, keep your Program-plots for each week, here. Jot down titles, stars, features, shorts, trailers, footage, running time, running order, distributor, stage show, lobby-talent, and sales campaign plans. . Clumsy entrances 6. Crooked lines. 12. Too many bows. . Costumes un13. Number repeated clean. » Voices not loud 14. Poorarrangement enough. 7. 8 . Dancers out of 9. Miscues. 1 and exits. . Faulty line work. . Dancers out of step. , tempo. . Line arrangement for size. . Faulty make-up. 16. Unplanned enTack . Properties incomplete. STAGE PERFORMANCE CHECK . Superfluous and unnecessary ‘adlibbing’ = . Continuity doxegarded. , . Similarity o. dance routines. of contrast of units. Perfotmers visible off stage. too often. of units. 15. Omissions. cores. . Stalling. Are you building SUNDAY matinee business? (See PUBLIX OPINION, Vol. Ill, Nos. 10,12.) Have you a “work. sheet” or schedule of daily duties of each person on the payroll? Checkupthese“worksheets” every few weeks. Are you building SUNDAY matinee business? (See PUBLIX OPINION, Vol. Ill, Nos. 10,12.) December Drive ideas and tips in special manual and in © PUBLIX OPINION, Vol. Ill, Nos. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. Do you spot Publix and Paramount trademarks in ads? Help ~ to stop the waste in good, repeatable ideas. Tell *’em today to PUBLIX OPINION (the official ‘voice’ and ‘idea exchange’). Keep those want ad. tie-ups going regularly with your local papers. TODAY IS Election Day. Today is Armistice Day. Get a theatre or circuit institutional story in your local papers. You’ve only got a few more weeks to complete stunts for Thanksgiving. Plug Music Sales For Profit. Order your monthly supplies. December 21 is the shortest day of the year but the longest ‘fun-day’ in your theatre. Tell ’em! (Copyright 1930—Publix Theatres Corporation) . Failure of M. C. 29. to sell an act: . M.C. cues. . Gestures. . Poor diction. 30. . Lack of variety in introductions. . Familiarity with audience overdone. i Get new “name-slugs” for your theatre ads. While you’re doing it, include the twin trademarks of Publix and Paramount. ARE YOU ALL SET FOR 31 CONTINUOUS PROFIT DAYS IN DECEMBER? Beat that Pre-Xmas Does your ad-artist obtain all engraving aids? Thanksgiving Day is Here. ~ Announcements made too soon before applause dies down. Failure to subordinate M. C. to performer after introduction. Is your projectionist getting a copy of “Sound Tips’? Income Tax Payments are due Dec. 15. Prepare to offset this temporary shortage of funds for amusement purposes. MANAGERS Send in your weekly reports ON TIME. The Scenic, Westbrook, Maine, Theatres. PLAN YOUR CHRISTMAS DRIVE! See PUBLIX OPINION files and manuals. ‘Canned goods’ and ‘vegetable matinee’ for benefit of local poor, just before Thanksgiving. PLAN YOUR CHRISTMAS DRIVE! December bookings ALL set? PLAN YOUR CHRISTMAS PLAN YOUR CHRISTMAS DRIVE! PLAN YOUR CHRISTMAS DRIVE! Got down here WHAT is unfinished for the week and WHO wazs assigned to follow through.)